Background
The United Nations has long been addressing the global crisis caused by unsafe water and sanitation and growing demands on the world’s water resources to meet human, economic and environmental needs.
The United Nations Water Conference (1977), the International Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Decade (1981-1990), and the Earth Summit (1992) — all focused on this vital resource.
Recent milestone agreements include the , the , the , and the .
The Water Action Decade will accelerate efforts towards meeting water-related challenges, including limited access to safe water and sanitation, increasing pressure on water resources and ecosystems, and an exacerbated risk of droughts and floods.
One of the key objectives of the Decade is for the international community to “energize implementation of existing programmes and projects”, such as the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the 2015-2030 Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, and the 2015 Paris Agreement.
